Whatsapp: Why it’s bad for your business
There’s a lot of buzz about workplace chat and the increased productivity companies are experiencing as a result. For many businesses, it may seem intuitive to try to reap some of the benefits of free-flowing communication by using one of the most popular messaging apps, Whatsapp. And with video messaging on the way within the platform, it may seem like the best solution. But here are some of the problems businesses face as a result of using Whatsapp for internal communication.
Even though the company has recently improved security with end-to-end encryption this year, there is still the very big problem of a user’s account being tied to a personal phone number. You can’t limit the roles of employees or restrict access once someone is a part of a group chat. Even after employees leave, they can continue to access the information being shared. As a result, changing roles becomes a logistical nightmare.
Just messaging a group about new ideas doesn’t mean they’ll actually amount to anything. There have to be clear, concise tasks and deadlines in order to see projects through effectively. Though a good place to openly discuss new ideas and innovative solutions, group chat alone doesn’t get you to the finished product. Without task management, Whatsapp doesn’t allow you to organize actionable to-dos needed to get the job done.
With Whatsapp, you may find yourself triple-checking that the message you’re about to send is in the right group! Whatsapp, for most users, is not strictly for business. Most of us use it for personal conversations and group chats unrelated to the office. There’s a reason we (way back in the day) had a division between personal and business emails and phone numbers. With no way to differentiate between the two within the platform, mixing personal and business-related groups can be annoying, distracting, and potentially dangerous. Sharing internal business information somewhere that business and personal conversations mix is not smart communication.
Losing important information through multiple message streams is easy, especially if there’s no search capability. The idea of chat for businesses is that information and ideas are shared and responded to quickly. But without a proper way to organize that information, your team are essentially just virtually yelling over each other, hoping that the important parts are heard and remembered.
Whatsapp is meant for casual conversation. Anyone can create groups, and anyone can private message anyone. If the organization within your business needs remain as transparent as possible to those at the top, this is not an ideal situation. If multiple groups and side groups are created, that can lead to a lack of knowledge and clarity, which in turn makes it difficult for managers to know what’s really going on.
So, how do you avoid these problems but still keep the increased employee engagement and productivity that comes from using a company group chat? Well, by choosing a platform that has chat, task management, and videoconferencing all in the same place — separate and secure from everything else. We may know someone who can help you. 😉
-The Hibox Team
Originally published at www.hibox.co on February 22, 2017.
